Thill-coupling



(No Model.) I

R, D. PATTON. 2

LLLLLLLL PLING.

No. 480,622. Patented Aug. 9, 1892.

1 il, a .imma

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RUFUS D. PATTON, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

THlLL-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 480,622, dated August9, 1892.

Application led December 2, 1891. Serial No. l113,806. (No model.)

.To aZZ'u/hom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, RUFUs D. PATTON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Thill-Couplings;and I do hereby declare the' following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in thill-couplings; and the objectis to facilitate the operation of changing from thills to pole and toprovide a safe and practically rigid coupling which shall be free fromnoise and rattling.

With these ends in view myinvention consists of a clip having its lowerends connected by a yoke and provided with an elliptical hole or openingin one ear, a thill-iron having an enlarged head with a cam-surface onone side and an elliptical hole, and the coupling-pin elliptical incross-section at its center and tted tightly in the opening in thethill-iron. This coupling-pin is further provided with recesses at ornear each end to receive the forwardly-projecting ears of the clip, andthe extreme end of the pin has a lug or key on one side thereof, whichpasses through a slot communicating with the opening in one ear andserves to lock the pin in place. The yoke of the clip extends in rear ofthe same, and a cushion of rubber or other ilexible material is insertedbetween the thill-iron and the clip, which rests on said yoke, theanti-rattler thus being forced against lugs on the front face of theclip by the cam-surface of the thill-iron. The coupling-pin is alsoprovided with an enlarged round or elliptical-shapedy head, which iseccentrically secured thereon and adapted to bear on a projection formedon the outer face of the clip-ears to force the coupling-pin up againstthe top of the openings in the ears, and consequently cause theelliptical-headed thill-iron to impinge firmly against the antirattler.

My invention further consists ofcertain details of construction andarrangement of parts, as will more fully appear hereinafter.

I have illustrated my invention in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure I is a side elevation showing the thill elevated. Fig. II is asimilar View showing the arrangement of parts when the thill is loweredand in position for use. Fig. III is a detail view of the coupling-pin.Fig. IV is a view of the thill-iron. Fig. V is a front view of the clipwithout the thill and coupling-pin to show the lugs or spurs on the facethereof. Fig. VI is a side View of the clip, showing the projectionabove the pin-opening; and Fig. VII is a detail view of one ear.

Referring to the drawings, in which like letters of reference denotecorresponding parts iu all the figures, A designates 4the clip, havingthe downwardlyextending ends a, thereof joined in the usual manner byayoke a', which fastens the clip on the axle. T his clip has thecustomary forwardly-extending ears B B, in one of which B is anelliptical pin-opening b, and the other ear B has a circular opening,with a slot b', which comm unlcates with said opening.

The coupling-pin C has an elliptical-shaped middle portion c and a lugor projection c at the end thereof. The coupling-pin is provided, also,with an enlarged head c, which may be round or any desired shape, and itis eccentrically secured on the pin. The lug c is adapted to passthrough the slot b in the ear B, and when the thill is lowered the luglwill not come into alignment with the slot, and the elliptical portionc, also being out of alignment with opening b, will therefore preventthe coupling-pin from being accidentally detached. The thill-iron D hasan elliptical-shaped opening d and a cam-surface d', and the enlargedportion c of the couplingpin is adapted to fit into said opening d andsupport the thill rigidly thereon.

On the outer face of one or both of the ears B B is a projection E atone side of the pinopenings therein. This projection is so arranged thatwhen the coupling-pin is properlyinserted in place and the thill islowered the head c, being eccentric with relation to the pin, willimpinge firmly against the projection E, which forces the pin upward andprevents it from falling below its proper horizontal position, and atthe same time the cam-surface of the thill-iron will be forced against arubber cushion F, arranged between said iron and the clip.

The rubber or other elastic block F, which IOO forms the cushion, isplaced between the thill-irou and the front face of the clip, which isprovided with a number of lugs or spurs f, adapted to take into theblock F when forced against them by the thill-iron and retain said blockin position.

port the block F and prevent it from falling f out when the thill iselevated and the pressure exerted by the cam-surface of the thill' n incross-section to it in the thill-lrou openiron is removed.

By this construction it will be readily seen that when the thill islowered the couplingpin will turn, also, to bring the lug o out ofalignment with the slot h', and the cam-snrface of the thill-iron willforce the rubber block F firmly against the front face of the clip, andthe spurs thereon will take into said block. At the same time theeccentric head of the coupling-pin will impinge against the upper faceof the projection E and coact with the block F to form a irm elasticcoupling.

The operation of connecting a thill to the axle with my improvedcoupling consists in arranging the thill-iron in an elevated position,as shown in Fig. 1, so that the pin-openings therein will align, andthen inserting the coupling -pin. While in this position the rubberblock F is inserted in place, and then the thill is lowered, whichbrings the cam-surface of the thill-iron and the eccentric head of thepin in close contact with the block F and projection E. When the thill.is lowered, the lug c' is out of alignment with the slot b and theelliptical portion `c is out of alignment with opening b, and when thethill is elevated the pin can be removed readily, as is obvious.

The projection E may be arranged on one or both of the ears B B', and itmay also be above, below, or on either side of the pinopenings, and inFig. VI I have shown it above-the opening b, in which case the openingis made nearer the lower edge of the ear than when the projection isbelow the opening.

I am aware that changes iu the form and proportion of parts and detailsof construction may be made without departing from the spirit orsacrificing the advantages of my invention, and I therefore reserve theright to make such changes as fairly fall within the scope of the same.

The yoke a extends inV front of the clip a suiicient distance to suplHaving thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a thill-coupling, the combination, with the clip having the earsand pin-openings, of the thill-iron having an elliptical pin-opening anda cam-surface on one side thereof, the coupling-pin adapted to passthrough the openings iny the thill-iron and clip-ears and having anenlarged central portion elliptical ing, and the eccentric head of saidcouplingpin adapted to impinge against the cam-surface on the clip ear,substantially as described.

2. In a thill-coupling, the clip having the forwardly-extending ears andthe projection on the outer face of the ear, combined witha couplingpinhaving au enlarged eccentric head adapted to impinge against saidprojection, substantially as described.

3. In a thill-coupling, a coupling-piu having the enlarged centralportion elliptical in cross-section, the lug at the end thereof, and theenlarged head eccentrically arranged on the pin and adapted to impingeagainst a cam-surface on the clip, in combination with a clip, athilliron, and a cushion, substantially as described.

4. In a thill-coupling, a clip having the-forwardly-extending ears, theyoke, the elliptical opening in one ear and the piu-opening in the otherear, having a slot communicating therewith, combined with the thill-ironhaving an elliptical pin-opening and a cam-snrface, the coupling-.pinhaving an enlarged central portion adapted to fittightly in thepin-opening in said thill-iron and arranged to operate in the openingsin the clip-ears, the projection on the face Vof the ear, and enlargedhead on the coupling-pin adapted to impinge against said projection, thespurs on the front face of the clip, and the elastic block fittedbetween the clip and thilliron and adapted to beforced against the spursby the cam-surface on said thill-iron, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

RUFUS D. PATTON.

Witnesses:

J. P. KEoUGH, FRANK S. PATTON.

IOO

